I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything.

I know. It has been a while. I made a promise to never abandon a story. So even though this is not a new story, I wanted to finish it.

I'm not really un-retiring… not yet anyway. This is not new content. In fact, it is almost ten years old. It's the fourth and final installment in the Real Relationship arc.

Look, I get that interest in things Chuck has waned. That's as it should be. So, while I'd always love to hear from you, I'm not doing this for hits or reviews. I'm doing this for me. Hopefully you can enjoy it as well.

Trapped

x-x-x-x-x

Angel and Casey were in the car monitoring Chuck's conversation.

"Who is this Bryce?" Angel asked.

It was actually an excellent question. Casey was already calling Beckman. Their conversation was short and sweet… well maybe not so much sweet. She hit the roof when she heard about Bryce being there. She promised to call him right back after she talked to Graham.

As soon as the call ended, Casey tapped some keys on the laptop and turned the screen towards Angel. "Bryce Larkin is Walker's old partner," he said. "He's also a major dickhead. Chuck knows him from college. I think maybe they were roommates."

Angel looked at Bryce's picture on the screen. "Damn," she said. "He's very pretty. Sarah was his partner… anything else?"

Casey nodded. "It was something of a love triangle for a while," he said. "Larkin has an ego the size of Jupiter. He's not taking losing to Bartowski very well. I have no idea what he's doing in there, but it can't be good."

Just then Casey's phone rang. Beckman's picture came up. "Casey, secure," he answered briskly.

Beckman was clearly spooked. "Major," she said. "This call is off the record. Do we understand each other?"

This couldn't be good. Beckman didn't go off the record… ever. She was as by-the-book as they came. "Yes, ma'am," Casey said.

"There was a mole in the DoD personnel department," Beckman said. "Walker and Miller's cover is blown. Graham refused to tell them so that they couldn't tip them off that we knew. Larkin is hoping that saving her life might get him back in Agent Walker's good graces. I just … I just thought you should know."

Casey had to take a breath to keep from exploding. It didn't get any worse than to have your cover blown. For the brass to know… and not tell them… that was as unacceptable as it got. "Thank you, ma'am," he said. "What about Bartowski?"

"We don't think they know about him," Beckman said. "He's not on the payroll. You're authorized to take whatever actions possible to protect Agents Walker and Miller."

At least that was some little bit of good news. "Yes, ma'am," Casey said.

"This call never happened," Beckman said as she ended the call.

Casey threw the phone down in disgust. "Shit!" he yelled as he hit the steering wheel in frustration.

Angel was nervous before. Now she was in a panic, fearing the worst. "What's wrong?" she immediately asked.

"Their cover is blown."

"What does that mean?" Angel asked with her eyes wide with fear. "Is Chuck in trouble?"

"We don't think that they know about Chuck," Casey said shaking his head in shock. "But Carina and Walker are in big trouble. They don't know. They are sitting ducks. We have no way of telling them. Really bad things happen to female agents when they blow their cover."

Angel sat thinking for a moment. "Let me go in there," she said. "I can let them know."

Okay, so Beckman had just authorized him to take action but that was out of the question. "No way," Casey said firmly. "We're in enough trouble as it is. We don't need any more."

"Please, Casey," Angel pleaded. "If anything happened to Chuck and I could have helped, I couldn't live with myself."

"No way," Casey said. "You're not trained. How do you think that you could get in there anyway?"

Angel took a moment to calm her voice. She knew that the only way to convince him was to make a rational argument. "I could get in there easy," she said. "I have my bikini on under my clothes. I've been to a few of these things. They know me. I'm supposed to be there. I'll just say I was late and missed the bus."

Casey looked at her. She was making sense. "I don't know," he said. "You have no training."

"Please, Casey," Angel pleaded softly. "What training do I need? If we hadn't met, I'd be there right now working. I'll just go in, find them, tell them that their cover is blown, and then I'll lie by the pool until it's over."

Casey made sure that she was looking at him. "Angel," he said. "Look at me and listen to what I'm saying. If you go in there, you're risking your life. These guys are planning on killing a million people tomorrow. One more won't be an issue for them. I won't be able to help you. Do you understand?"

Angel was blinking away tears… but she did look him in the eyes. "Yes," she said. "I just can't sit here and listen to them being killed."

Casey sat and thought about it for a long moment. "Shit," he finally muttered. "They are heading in the house. Go in, tell the first one that you see that their cover is blown, then find a safe spot and stay put. Do you understand?"

Angel was already getting out of the car. "Yes, Casey," she said calmly.

"I understand."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck walked into the mansion with a topless Sarah and Carina on either arm. His forced grin belied the tension in the air.

"Stay in character until we've checked the room for bugs," Sarah whispered to Chuck as they walked.

Once they were inside, a guard met them. In this job he probably saw twenty bare breasts an hour. But Carina and Sarah were in a different league. So his face showed his approval. He finally led them down a hall on the main floor with several doors on either side of the hall. The guard stopped at the third door on the left and opened it. "Enjoy your afternoon, sir," he said with a wink as he let them into the room and closed the door behind them.

If the courtyard was fabulous, the mansion was even nicer. Whoever said that crime doesn't pay was full of it. The room was set up like a well apportioned bedroom. In the middle of the room was a king sized bed. On one wall was a full mirror. On the other wall was a bar, big screen television and stereo sound system. As soon as the door closed, Carina found the video camera that was hidden behind the mirror and turned it off while Sarah went to the sound system and played some music fairly loudly. Both girls took a moment to put on their tops.

Chuck shook his head with a grin and grabbed Sarah's arm. "Hey," he teased. "You're going in the wrong direction. The camera's off. We don't have to worry about the Internet. What do you say?"

So Sarah might have been on fire a few minutes ago. But now all she could think about was completing this assignment and getting home. "And what is poor Carina supposed to do?" she protested as she attempted to gently pull out of Chuck's embrace.

Naturally Carina couldn't allow that hanging curve ball to pass. "Hey," she said with an evil grin. "I don't mind. Really. Maybe I can pick up a pointer or two."

All Sarah could do was to shake her head. "What do the words 'you're not helping' mean to you?" she asked with a sigh.

Carina wasn't quite done. "You want me to help?" she replied with a faux straight face. "I always suspected you'd be against that. I just thought you wanted me to watch. Is this a change in policy?"

Sarah flashed Carina the look that told her to shut up. So Carina did the smart thing and shut up.

Sarah put her arms around Chuck. "Carina and I are going to poke around and see what we can find," she said. "Please, Chuck, please stay in the room."

Chuck just looked at her. "Maybe I'll have to find a way to rescue you," he muttered.

Of course Sarah recognized the shot he had just taken. She pulled back to look at him critically. "Sweetie, please don't pout about this," she said. "You know that we can't have any sex right now. What are you thinking? We're on a mission. A million lives are at stake. Leaving this room trying to find a way to 'rescue' me? Would I be pissed? Pissed isn't the right word. Let's just say that it wouldn't go good for you… and that the resultant cold shoulder you would have earned would last for a very, very, very fucking long time. Do we understand each other?"

Sarah was in mission mode. Chuck had seen it a million times. She wasn't kidding, not even a little. "Yes," was all he said.

Sarah nodded to Carina. The second that Carina opened the door, the guard approached. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Carina flashed her sweetest smile. "Actually, there is," she replied. "Could you come in here for a minute?"

Naturally, when it came to professional evil doer guard-craft, being lured into a room by a half-naked beauty was a huge mistake in judgement. Fortunately, he wouldn't remember it. Sarah, who wasn't in the best of moods anyway, made sure of that as her lightening quick left foot connected solidly with his jaw… leaving him sprawled unconscious.

While Carina was securing and gagging him, Sarah turned to Chuck. "I know that we ask you to stay places a lot," she said. "And you hardly ever do. So let me say this a little gentler than your wife just did. Please, we need to know where our weapons are going to be. It's important. It could mean the difference between life and death. Okay?"

Chuck didn't answer… not really. "Be careful," he said.

At least that got as much of a smile as you ever got from Agent Walker on a mission. "Wow," Sarah said. "I know that you're not happy with me. I'm honestly sorry about that. But you don't really know me at all, do you?"

"We don't know how to be careful."

x-x-x-x-x

Scott Wilson and Mark Jones were sitting at a table by the side of the pool. A large umbrella shaded the men. They each had a tall drink that they were nursing. "I wonder how our new friend is doing with those two agents," Jones said. "One thing for sure, you have to admire his taste. That blonde is the hottest thing I've ever seen."

That got them laughing. "The redhead isn't bad herself," Wilson said. "Trust me. It's a shame we have to put off killing them. But Carmichael has already given us ten million and promises another ten million. For that kind of money, he can have every girl here if he wants. We can wait."

"Something is telling me," Jones said. "That in about two minutes, he'll need to take a break. They probably have backup somewhere in the area."

"Probably," Wilson agreed. "As soon as we have them secured, we'll load them on the boat. There would be no way for their backup to know what was happening or to react in time. Once we have them somewhere private, we can take our time and break them slowly. I'm going to enjoy listening to them beg to die for days."

As they were sitting there, Wilson's phone rang. "Yes," he answered.

"Sir, this is Raul from the front gate," the voice said. "We have an Angel Lopez here. She says that she missed the bus. What should I do?"

"What do we have on Angel Lopez?" Wilson asked Jones.

"She's clean," Jones replied as he checked his phone. "She has been with the agency for almost two years."

"I remember her," Wilson said. "She is most attractive. She was a regular and then she got sick."

"Invite Miss Lopez in by all means," said Wilson into his phone. "Ask her to come find me. I'm sitting by the pool."

Wilson responded to Jones's questioning look. "This is perfect," he said with a huge smile. "After I take her for a spin, she would be the perfect one to keep Carmichael company while we deal with our agent friends."

Jones smiled and nodded.

"Are we ready?" Wilson asked.

"Yes, sir," Jones said. "The teams were instructed to assemble in the basement at the top of the hour. I'm heading down there now. We'll send them on their way."

"Then we'll have nothing to do except deal with the agents."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Carina quietly walked down the empty hall. It wasn't a comfortable feeling. In the first place, neither was exactly sure what it was they were even looking for. Not only that, they were wandering around in a place everyone knew that they weren't supposed to be. They had no weapons, and were wearing only skimpy bikinis. If they were discovered, their only defense would be flirting. The confused, tipsy, dumb blonde act had saved Agent Walker scores of times. It probably wouldn't help much today.

When they got to the end of the hall, there was a stairway leading down to the basement. They could hear noises coming from the basement but the words were too faint to make out. Carina looked at Sarah to decide what to do. Sarah motioned with her head for them to go down the stairs.

Once they were in the basement they could see that there was a hallway with doors on either side. At the end of that hallway there was what appeared to be a conference room. They could hear that the commotion they were hearing was coming from the conference room. Sarah motioned for Carina to follow her and they quietly made their way along the wall until they reached the door just before the conference room. Sarah carefully tried the door and it was unlocked. She slowly opened the door and found that the room was empty. It looked like a small janitor's closet. Sarah grabbed Carina by the arm and they entered the room. Sarah closed the door until it was open only enough to hear what was being said. It was plainly Mark Jones who was addressing the group.

"My brothers," Jones said loudly. "In a few minutes Mr. Wilson will come and wish you good fortune. After that, you will board the bus and go to the airport for your flight to Atlanta. A bus will be waiting to take you to the Bakersfield warehouse. At that point you will each be given a van with the canisters of Saran. You will drive to your attack position and wait tomorrow for the appointed hour."

"Are there any questions?"

x-x-x-x-x

Angel walked up to where Wilson was sitting and put on her sexiest smile. "Mr. Wilson," she said as she extended her hand. "How lovely it is to see you again. I'm so sorry that I was late. Please forgive me."

Wilson kissed her hand. "Don't be silly," he said. "I trust that you are feeling better?"

Angel kept up the smile. "Much better, Mr. Wilson," she said. "Aren't you so sweet for asking? I had a case of bronchitis that just wouldn't go away."

"Please," Wilson said. "Call me Scott. I'm so happy that you're feeling better."

It was time to turn up the flirting a notch. Since Chuck and the team weren't by the pool, she had to get into the house. "Yes, Scott," Angel said. "I am. As a matter of fact, I would love for you to experience for yourself just how good I feel."

"I think I just may take you up on that." Wilson said. He got up from his chair and extended his hand. Wilson led Angel into the mansion and down the same hallway where Chuck, Sarah, and Carina had previously been. Of course, he didn't need a guard. He knew his way around. He opened the last door on the right and led Angel inside. It was a bedroom exactly furnished like the one where Chuck was.

"I'm so sorry." Wilson said. "But I have some business downstairs to attend to. Would you please wait here for me? I'll be back in about twenty minutes."

"Of course," Angel replied with her sexy smile. As she stepped up to Wilson and kissed him, she took his hand and placed it on her breast. "What do you think, Scott?" she asked.

"Am I feeling better?"

x-x-x-x-x

Wilson had been gone for about a minute and Angel was trying to decide what to do. Staying where she was and just waiting for Wilson to return seemed pointless. Whatever was happening with Sarah and Carina was probably happening where Wilson was, she reasoned. At least if she was discovered she could sweet talk her way out of by saying that she misunderstood Wilson and thought that she was supposed to be looking for him. As she opened the door and walked towards the stairs she whispered quietly to herself.

"This is a very bad idea."

Once Angel got to the bottom of the stairs she could hear Wilson speaking loudly. From the words she was hearing she could tell there was no way to sweet talk herself out of this. They would never allow any witnesses. That meant she couldn't be discovered. In a panic she tried the first door that she came to. When it opened, Angel found herself in what was obviously a lab. Looking for somewhere to hide, she quickly found a closet that was hidden behind some racks of materials. As she knelt in the closet she bumped up against some metal canisters. One of the canisters had a piece of masking tape with a hand written label. Her eyes widened in horror as she turned to the side of the canister to be able to read the single word that was written there.

Saran

Angel didn't realize that the door she had chosen was connected to the same room where Sarah and Carina were hiding. When Sarah heard Scott Wilson walking down the hall she quietly closed the door. Once she could tell that he had passed, she opened the door a crack again so they could hear.

"My brothers," Wilson said in a booming voice. "Our time to make history has come. The imperialist pigs and their illegitimate Zionist swine partners have, for the past seventy five years, invaded our homeland. They have killed our children, raped our women and stolen our valuable resources. Today, we have a glorious opportunity for vengeance. Today we have an opportunity for revenge. Today we have an opportunity to deal a blow for our families that they will never recover from. I trust that you, my brothers, will not let us down in our quest. Our cause is just."

At that the men cheered loudly. As the meeting broke up, Sarah closed the door. After a few minutes the quietness told her that everyone had left. She opened the door a crack to look outside. Suddenly, the door was pulled open and Sarah and Carina were looking at four men with assault rifles aimed at them. They had no hope of fighting their way out of this. All they could do was place their hands on top on their heads in surrender. Scott Wilson stepped up with an evil smile. "Agent Walker, Agent Miller, how nice of you to join us," he said.

"We've been expecting you."

x-x-x-x-x